Gambling Debts 18/?
Chapter 18
"Danny Mahealani is a god." Erica proclaimed.
"I take you know the guy?"
"We never met." She admitted. "But he can't be our guy."
"Why not? He not good enough?" Derek hadn't dared to touch the program and Erica had said herself that whoever had programmed it was really good.
"Please, he could do something like that in his sleep." She brushed him off. "Did some impressive hacking in his wild years, that's true, but he's one of the good guys now. Runs his own business and pays taxes and everything."
"Maybe he's still doing something on the side?" Like you, Derek thought but didn't say out loud.
"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced. "But this is not really his style. He's more of a justice warrior. Transferring money from banks to charity organizations, things like that. He did some things just to see if he could do them, getting into government systems just because. Stuff like that. That's basically what he's doing now but on the legal side."
"What do you mean?" To Derek that sounded exactly like their guy.
"He tests security systems." Erica answered and in the background he heard her tapping on the keyboard. "He gets payed for hacking into a system to find the weak spots."
"So he would be capable of doing something like this." Derek stressed the point. So far this man was the only lead they had and he was not willing to give it up just yet.
"Like I said, in his sleep. But why would he?"
That was the big question.
"I'm on his website now." She said and there was more clicking. "Got some really good reviews. I could contact him."
"Not yet." Derek stopped her. "I have to talk to Isaac and Stiles first. But I'll let you know."
Derek ended the call deep in thoughts. Even if this had been a relapse to this Danny guy's more adventurous times, the Red didn't seem like his usual target. And if he had been hired to test their system it should have been in the books. And for sure he shouldn't have left a program spying on them.
He informed Isaac and Stiles about the new information and they all agreed that the only way to find out more about this was to just talk to the guy. So Derek called Erica back.
"Set up a meeting with him." He said without a greeting.
"Will do." She most likely had already typed out her request and was only waiting to hit send now. "I'll let you know as soon as I get an answer."
Derek was about to end the call when she spoke again. "Oh, and if you see Boyd, tell him that if he's looking for his plush frog I found it under my bed this morning and I intend to keep it."
"Why does Boyd have a plush frog?" Derek asked. "Forget it, I don't want to know. And you can tell him yourself."
"Hey, that's less disturbing than some things I hear about you." Erica said lightly but her voice dropped into something more serious at the end.
Derek didn't know what to say to that. Erica had been at the Red a few times and even if she wasn't interacting with the other staff much, she must have heard something.
"Derek?" Now there was clear concern in her voice.
"I don't want to talk about this over the phone." Or ever. He closed his eyes. Telling Isaac had been one thing. He couldn't tell Erica. If he started like that whole Vegas would know in a few days.
"We could meet somewhere." She suggested. "My place if you want to talk in private."
That offer alone made him wonder what exactly she had heard. His first instinct was to tell her that he was fine. Her work at the Red would be done eventually and then she wouldn't hear more of the rumors. But if she got more involved with Boyd, and it clearly looked like that, he was already losing his stuff in her bedroom, it was more than likely that she would hear more.
In two days Stiles and Derek intended to have their first scene and if it went well, Derek would want more of it. Even if it was mediocre, he most likely would want more. He had been walking around with nauseating mixture of want, anticipation and dread in the pit of his stomach for days now but the want was by far the strongest emotion.
"I'm worried about you." She said softly when it took him too long to answer.
They agreed to have dinner together on Friday. Her place, Derek would bring beer.
He ended the call and couldn't help but wonder since when people cared about him. And since when did he take them up on their offer to help him?
The next morning, Tuesday, Erica was forgotten because he had another weird breakfast with Stiles. Since tomorrow was their big day Stiles wanted to use this to clear up last questions.
Derek had never guessed that there would be so much talking involved. With her he had barely opened his mouth, except for eating her out, and the only things coming out of her mouth had been orders or insults when he had messed up again.
He didn't want to mess up with Stiles.
"So tomorrow." Stiles drew out the words while he piled pancakes on his plate. "You still in?"
"Yes, Stiles." He restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Nobody liked a sassy sub.
Stiles either didn't notice his tone or choose to ignore it. Maybe he was too busy drowning his pancakes in syrup.
"We can do one scene in the evening and that's it." He said but there was an "or" just waiting around the corner. Derek waited him out. "Or we could do more throughout the day."
"What do you have in mind?" Derek fiddled with a slice of bacon on his plate, not sure if he wanted to meet the other man's eyes.
"Nothing major." Stiles hurried to say. "I'm not going to spank you every hour or keep you tied up all day." His tone was joking but it made Derek breathe easier.
He didn't know what to expect from this, from Stiles. This was already completely different than what he'd done with her.
"I was thinking about kneeling." Stiles continued and Derek felt his eyes on him. Not judging but observing, at least he hoped Stiles wasn't judging.
"I'd like that." Derek said to the bacon on his plate. His cheeks were burning and he just couldn't look at Stiles.
Stiles' hand found his and gave it an encouraging squeeze.
"And I'd like to chose what we do over the day." Stiles continued. "I'd like it if you'd asked when you need to use the bathroom. I won't say no but I'd like it if you asked."
Derek thought about it. Handing control over like this was big. He had crossed out the whole humiliation section so he hoped that Stiles wouldn't make him beg to use the bathroom or let him pee himself.
"If you're uncomfortable with this, just tell me." Stiles' thumb painted little circles on the back of his hand. "We're still hashing this out, you have as much of a say in this as I have."
Derek swallowed thickly. The thought of letting Stiles take complete control for the day was tempting.
"I want to try." Just saying that loosened something inside him.
"Anything you want to add?" Stiles asked, ducking his head to look him in the eye.
Derek felt his blush deepen but after Stiles had been so open, he felt bold.
"My hair." He started but had to clear his throat before he could continue. "I'd like your fingers in my hair."
"Petting or pulling?" Stiles asked as if it was a normal request.
"Both? But more the first?" Derek licked his lips. The thought of himself on his knees while Stiles was carding his fingers through his hair …
"Okay." Stiles agreed. "Just tell me if I'm too rough."
That brought them to the topic of safe words. Stiles wanted to use the traffic light system and Derek had to admit that it was more flexible than a single safe word. With yellow he could pause the scene without actually ending it. It worked in his favor because using his safe word still felt like admitting defeat. And he didn't want to ruin this for Stiles.
"I'm going to ask for a color often." Stiles continued. "And I need an answer. I don't know you well enough to read your cues and even if I knew you well enough, I still could miss or misread something. I need you to tell me if something is wrong."
"I'll tell you."
"Good." Stiles gave his hand another squeeze. "Anyway, tomorrow is our test drive. So whatever happens, there won't be any punishment. We're just testing things out. I want to try out the spanking bench but that won't be about punishment either. It's just us figuring stuff out, okay?"
Derek didn't know how Stiles did it but somehow he knew what was going on in Derek's head.
With her it had always been about punishment. More often than not he had been set up to failure and he had thought that it had been part of the game. He had read a few things about that over the last few days.
"I have one more thing on my list." Stiles continued, drawing Derek out of his thoughts. "Since we're taking this into all day life, at least for one day, it would be good to mark it someway. It helps us to slip into our roles if there is a visible reminder that we're in a scene." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Usually that's what a collar is for."
Derek went rigid and he had to fight the urge to yank his hand out of Stiles'.
Good dog, echoed her voice in his mind and he could almost feel the collar around his neck.
"But I know that's not an option here." Stiles hurried to say. With his other hand he gently straightened out Derek's fingers that had clammed down on his hand. Derek felt bones shifting back into place and for a second he feared that he had broken Stiles' hand.
"Sorry." He muttered, his heart still racing and he washed his free hand down his face in a fruitless attempt to calm himself down.
"No need to be sorry." Stiles told him. "I know that collars are not an option. You shoved me into a wall and nearly ate my face off because of that on your first day here. Believe me, I remember."
Derek had almost forgotten about that incident. He was about to say sorry again, ashamed of his reaction back then, but Stiles cut him off before he could even open his mouth.
"That's why I thought about a wrist cuff." He continued as if nothing had happened. "Would you be okay with wearing that?"
Derek thought about it. It didn't sound that uncomfortable, it would be just like a weird bracelet, and for sure it didn't make him want to a lash out at the mere thought of it.
"By putting it on and taking it off we can mark the beginning and the end of the scene." Stiles said.
It would be like a switch to help him to distinguish between his normal mode and his sub mode.
"That could work." He agreed.
"Great." Stiles gave him a smile. "That's it from my side, what questions do you have?"
Derek had questions, he even had made a list to not forget any of them, but now that it was his chance to ask them, he didn't know where to start. What if they were stupid? What if they just proved how inexperienced he really was? How messed up? He had read about abuse masked as BDSM and he had found more of himself in there than he was ready to admit. What if his questions let on to that and Stiles started to ask about it?
"Derek." Stiles wound his fingers into his hair, gently massaging the the base of his scull. Derek closed his eyes and just bathed in the sensation for a moment.
"I can tell that you have questions." Stiles said. "Nothing we say or do will leave this room. It's just us."
This was stupid, why couldn't he just talk about it? Stiles made it look so easy.
"I made a list." He finally said.
Chapter 19
Masterpost